"Boreas now arriving on site sir."
Sir Richard glanced to the twin on comms, "And?"
"Still unable to raise a signal. Dimensional interference looks to be too thick for a confirmation, though."
Glancing to the other twin, he inquired, "Telemetry?"
"Just coming in now sir," came Vanessa's steely reply. A few moments of tense silence ticked past before she continued. "Seems to be a direct hit right through the command center. No life signs from the chamber or immediate vicinity. Still trying to survey the residential areas, but they'd have to get closer to cut through the ambient distortions."
Sir Richard's eyes met the floor in thought, and lingered there for much of his rumination. At length, Virgil broke the silence again.
"Your orders, Captain."
".... have the Boreas circle back. Get the Notus to climb, bring everyone to the same level. If we're going to have to fight that thing we'll need every gun we can field. Damn... I didn't want to have to pull out all our trump cards so soon."
Outside, the Sapphiard, Gunleon, and Axio would presently find the vessel beneath their feet turning and starting to slowly ascend, drifting up to the altitude the Fenossa was cruising at. The trajectory of both vessels was an inexorable advance toward the fray. Gripping the armrests of his chair, Dougal the Brown set his jaw, and looked to the display ahead.
"Forward, one quarter. All weapons open, all cannons on standby. If it comes down to it, we'll throw every last thing this ship has at that beast or at least occupy it long enough for reinforcements to arrive. With a lightshow like that, I hope there's someone willing to come see what's- ... that?"
"Sir?"
The captain squinted at a faint glimmer in one corner of the moonscape ahead of them. At this further direction, a series of insets zoomed and zoomed again, enlarging and enhancing the motes of light in the distance to the best of their ability...
Sir Richard glanced to the twin on comms, "And?"
"Still unable to raise a signal. Dimensional interference looks to be too thick for a confirmation, though."
Glancing to the other twin, he inquired, "Telemetry?"
"Just coming in now sir," came Vanessa's steely reply. A few moments of tense silence ticked past before she continued. "Seems to be a direct hit right through the command center. No life signs from the chamber or immediate vicinity. Still trying to survey the residential areas, but they'd have to get closer to cut through the ambient distortions."
Sir Richard's eyes met the floor in thought, and lingered there for much of his rumination. At length, Virgil broke the silence again.
"Your orders, Captain."
".... have the Boreas circle back. Get the Notus to climb, bring everyone to the same level. If we're going to have to fight that thing we'll need every gun we can field. Damn... I didn't want to have to pull out all our trump cards so soon."
Outside, the Sapphiard, Gunleon, and Axio would presently find the vessel beneath their feet turning and starting to slowly ascend, drifting up to the altitude the Fenossa was cruising at. The trajectory of both vessels was an inexorable advance toward the fray. Gripping the armrests of his chair, Dougal the Brown set his jaw, and looked to the display ahead.
"Forward, one quarter. All weapons open, all cannons on standby. If it comes down to it, we'll throw every last thing this ship has at that beast or at least occupy it long enough for reinforcements to arrive. With a lightshow like that, I hope there's someone willing to come see what's- ... that?"
"Sir?"
The captain squinted at a faint glimmer in one corner of the moonscape ahead of them. At this further direction, a series of insets zoomed and zoomed again, enlarging and enhancing the motes of light in the distance to the best of their ability...